Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

One thing I despise about my American Heritage class is that they have required movies.  I really hate when classes do that.  It's like, "Hey, guess what, I don't think I control your life quite enough yet, so I want you to devote two more hours of your life to this class!"  I mean, if I'm going to waste my time with a video, I at least want to waste it doing something I picked.  I can't complain too much, though.  They showed it for us, and I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
The video was called "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."  I would tell you the plot, but that would be really complicated.  Dumbed down, a ranger becomes a senator and goes to Washington, and is very rudely introduced to the way politics work.  The first half was exactly the way I expected it to go, meaning he embarrassed himself a lot.  I hate when characters embarrass themselves.  I think I empathize too much.  It's the reason I couldn't watch The Little Mermaid for years.  Fortunately, the second half of this video totally made up for it.
See, the guy goes filibuster, which means he gets the floor in the senate and refuses to let it go.  He gets to keep talking for as long as he needs... which ends up being about 23 hours!  The reasons for him going filibuster are long and complicated, so I won't discuss them here, because I don't think I could do them justice.  However, I can tell you that it was freaking hilarious.  Everyone's reactions to him were great, especially the guy in charge.  He had this constant smirk on his face, like, "This is democracy, folks!  This is the way it works, so deal with it!"  Definitely my favorite character.  It was a bit exhausting, there at the end, though.  I was feeling about as tired as the poor guy looked! 
So, if you've got two hours to waste, and you feel so inclined, enjoy! 

Fare thee well, friend!
Mira

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